Zoo (Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo- original German title)

DIRECTOR: Uli Edel

NOTEABLE APPEARANCES: Nataja Brunckhorst

DATE OF RELEASE: 1981

COUNTRY: West Germany

LANGUAGE: German

RATING: Unrated in the UK

KEY THEMES/ISSUES: Prostitution, drug use, chilhood sexual abuse

12-year-old Christiane Felscherinow lives with her mother and little sister in a small apartment in a typical multi-storey concrete apartment building in a dull neighbourhood in the outskirts of West Berlin. She's bored and lacks things to do and is sick and tired of living there. She hears of 'Sound', a new disco in the city center, called the most modern discothèque in Europe. Although she's legally too young to go to the disco, she dresses up in high heels and makeup and asks a friend from school to take her. At the disco she meets Detlef, who is a little older. He is in a clique where everybody experiments with various drugs. At first she takes pills and LSD, but gradually she becomes drawn deeper into the drugs, eventually ending up as a heroin-addict and pros. She falls in love with Detlef, and eventually gets herself off drugs and the street.

Date

1981